Stories

Harmony is when you bring the right people together with the right ideas, the right resources, and the right level ofunderstanding, so you can increase the chances of success. But with deep tech, its not as easy as it sounds. Dr Robert Powell explains.

With the release of the Technology Investment Network's (TIN) 2023 report into Aotearoa New Zealand’s tech investment ecosystem and those who are most active in it, we thought we'd provide some insights into why NZ needs more foreign investment and why deep tech is an attractive investment proposition..

Often people define commercialisation as taking the company or technology to 'the next step or level', and they're not wrong, but importantly you need a roadmap and a team who are always thinking about the next step, and the one after, and the one after that.

Pacific Channel leads a $2m investmet into Upstream Medical Technologies to support the advancement of a ground-breaking diagnostic marker for heart disease

Pacific Channel and Singpore-based venture capital fund, TRIREC sign a MOU to drive innovation, foster growth, and unlock new opportunities with a specific focus on tech that will reshape the future of our environment

Unleasing deep tech potential. This article examines the importance of understanding the technology and the surrounding patent landscape.

Safeguarding our environment is a hotly debated topic, and quite rightly, as it’s one of the most pressing issues that humankind faces. There is no single solution or set of solutions that will reverse the impact climate change is having on our environment, and on our future. This is why the whole of society needs to get involved – change can’t just be up to the few, the ‘many’ have to come together to play a part. In this article we examine the role specialised venture capital plays in advancing these solutions.

At the time, Neil and Richard weren’t looking for a huge capital investment- they wanted enough to prove the concept worked. Like all deep-tech innovations, there’s always a risk that the investment might not pay off, but it’s important to ask, ‘What if it does?’

Ever since our first investment in 2020, our long-term vision for Orbis Diagnostics has been that it could be the solution to a multi-billion-dollar, global problem. Here’s why we invested.

As a deep-tech venture capital fund, we are commonly asked how we know “what potential investments will have a measurable, and sustainable influence on our future and provide a return to our investors?”

Dr Ashwath Sundaresan is incredibly passionate about the future of our environment and leads our investments that focus on clean tech and advanced engineering.

When we get to the point where we are comfortable talking about founders, researchers, and entrepreneurs in their own right rather than adding ‘male’ or ‘female’ in front to define the founder or entrepreneur, we [and to clarify, ‘we’ refers to the venture capital sector] will be truly embracing equity.

The company behind the world’s first implantable long-term brain pressure sensor, New Zealand start-up Kitea Health, has secured $6m funding from investors to scale its clinical trial programme and accelerate entry into global markets.

The day we first established the deep-tech venture capital company, the name Pacific Channel worked. And it still fits today. It’s a true representation of what our team continues to offer researchers, innovators, and investors.

Led by Blair Jamieson and Lance Iwikau, Tāmata Hauhā works with Māori landowners to provide strategies and practical funding to develop unproductive land into productive assets.

Emerald adds “Our goal with this award is to encourage more women to enter the commercialisation space. By providing them access to the right people, the right support and the right skills and networks, we’re helping shape the next generation of founders and bringing more diversity to the development of research."

When Pacific Channel finds a deep-tech innovation they think is really exciting, and makes an investment, Steph and his team first reaches out to potential corporate acquirers globally to confirm there is interest should the innovation be successfully developed. If Pacific Channel decides to invest Steph and his team then reach out to select investors in New Zealand and around the world and say, “hey, this is what we’re investing in and why, do you want to co-invest with us?”.

Entrepreneurs are the centre of economic growth and innovation and we’re committed to supporting early-stage entrepreneurs to rapidly scale and innovate their technologies as they build globally successful, category-defining businesses to deliver solutions to some of our most pressing global challenges.

Geospatial Analysis + Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) is a new field of study that combines geospatial methodologies with data science in solutions estimated to be worth over $200b in the next five years. GeoAI is increasingly seen as a foundational technology across many industries, from healthcare to energy, improving public health outcomes and population well-being to ensuring environmental compliance and optimising physical assets and infrastructure.

Pacific Channel is excited to be leading a $4.5m seed round into Rotorua-based clean-tech company Cetogenix. There is a lot to love about Cetogenix - it’s an excellent example of how new biotechnology can enable the building of an attractive business while also accelerating decarbonisation goals.

VC’s are definitely making a concerted effort to increase gender equality but we need to do more to make sure females don’t fall through the gaps.

As a deeptech VC, we often see a variety of businesses and companies solving extremely complex problems. Many of the scientists and entrepreneurs we talk to know a lot more than us about their specific subject matter. The first conversation I have is often exciting – these people have dedicated a large chunk of their lives in this new venture and are excited by the possibilities and impact it brings.

Pacific Channel is delighted to have led the seed round for TasmanIon, a new spinout from Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) focussing on commercialising new aluminium ion batteries.

We’ve helped the Talalelei Life Futures Funds since its inception in 2018. It began when Talalelei died saving a Chinese New Zealander, caught in a rip on the south coast of Samoa. To honour Tala’s memory and his life-giving spirit, the fund offers scholarships to young Samoans into tertiary education, an otherwise unattainable path to a better life.

CertusBio has secured a $4.6m investment to accelerate plans for growth in New Zealand and globally. The Christchurch-based company offers biosensor technology to food producers that improves production efficiencies and reduces the cost of treating wastewater.

I am cautiously optimistic about the future and am also excited to see New Zealand innovations addressing these big global challenges. As we shift beyond a “lithium only” future, I am excited to see how Pacific Channel can help foster these technologies and scientists to help scale these to a global audience.

Pacific Channel's portfolio company Orbis Diagnostics has partnered with Air New Zealand in a trial to test a group of their frontline staff for their COVID-19 immunity levels.

Pacific Channel is working to support Geo40 in their valuable work for the environment. The company’s early work on lithium attracted the attention of Bill Gates’ climate-change fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, who indirectly invested in Geo40 via Swedish affiliate Baseload Capital.

Orbis is well placed to continue to progress and reach its planned market entry in Q1 2022. The company is currently preparing for a $10m Series A capital raise that is expected to launch in August 2021.

We’ve just announced our $2m investment into Quantifi Photonics’ $15m capital raise alongside Punakaiki Fund, Simplicity, Nuance Connected Capital, Aspire and K1W1.

Orbis has outgrown its part time jumpstart team and requires a full-time commercial team.

Vortex Power Systems is a venture formed out of the University of Auckland that is developing technology to generate electricity from waste heat emitted by thermal and industrial processes. Pacific Channel made an early investment in Vortex’s pre-seed round and the company delivered on its milestones.

Orbis Diagnostics, an Auckland-based Pacific Channel portfolio company developing an immunity test for Covid-19, has just signed a significant partnership with French multinational IDEMIA.

Vortex Power Systems – a spin out from the University of Auckland’s Wind Engineering lab, is developing a novel method of generating electricity from wasted heat, has achieved a key milestone in validating its technology. Pacific Channel Fund I led the first round of investment into the company to enable it to undertake a proof of concept to validate the key to its technology.

InsituGen is developing a novel test which we believe will revolutionise steroid testing. InsituGen was formed around this innovation by Dr Heather and Otago Innovation with funding and support from Pacific Channel

Orbis Diagnostics, a Pacific Channel Fund II portfolio company, is aiming to reduce this global and economic impact through providing peace of mind through immunity testing will re-enable movement during a pandemic.

We are proud to announce that $45m has now been committed to Pacific Channel Fund II; an NZ$50m early-stage investment fund focused on science and advanced engineering ‘deep-tech’ companies in New Zealand.

Pacific Channel has released its updated internal analysis of Living Cell Technologies (ASX:LCT).

Based on 9 years of research, Hot Lime Labs are commercialising a patented system that will recover clean CO2 from renewable forestry and agricultural waste. Pacific Channel is an existing investor in the company.

Mastaplex’s product provides dairy farmers with mastitis diagnosis and antibiotic treatment recommendations. Mastaplex is currently seeking up to $950,000 of new equity investment. Mastaplex has now raised $720,000 and is seeking the remaining ~$230,000.

Upstream has developed a novel technology platform built on years of research which provides a new class of diagnostic test designed for use in emergency departments. The potential market size for this test is estimated to be US$2bn.

Will Charles, the Executive Director of Commercialisation said “we are delighted for Cather and her team, and very pleased that working with local investors like Pacific Channel is starting to bear fruit in getting the great science done at the University of Auckland into global supply chains. The recycling of capital is critical to our ability to continue to fund the next generation of great start-ups, of which Cather and her lab are generators of.”

CertusBio’s lead product, Milk-Guard, is the first real-time interference-free biosensor monitoring device aimed at the dairy processing industry. The biosensor detects lactose and milk in dairy processing wastewater and puts control in the hands of process operators to dramatically reduce processing loses.

Pacific Channel will be hosting one law student, who will spend up to 200 hours in its office this year being mentored by Associate Lachlan Nixon, Associate, a former law student himself.

NZeno is a kiwi company aiming to supply pig kidneys suitable for human transplantation. Pacific Channel has been working with NZeno since the company’s inception and has invested in its seed round.

Living Green is pleased to confirm that it has received an investment commitment of NZ$3.2m from a strategic corporate investor introduced to the company by Pacific Channel. The investor is one of Shanghai’s 30 largest corporates with extensive distribution channels across Asia.

Engender believes its technology can be brought to market with low capital and low operating costs. Three of the world’s largest artificial insemination companies have signed option-to-license agreements.

Regen is a Agtech start-up that provides specialist software services to farmers for daily, accurate nitrogen, water and effluent irrigation recommendations. The company has just secured ~$1.1m of investment, which was underwritten and led by Pacific Channel.

Congratulations to Professor Cather Simpson, scientific founder of Engender Technologies and Orbis Diagnostics, for securing over $12.8 million of new science funding announced this week by Prime Minister Bill English and Science and Innovation Minister Paul Goldsmith.

Engender’s Chief Scientist, Associate Professor Cather Simpson, has been named a primary industry champion. This appointment confirms that Engender’s technology addresses a significant market need.

Engender has just closed a $4.5 million capital raise led by Pacific Channel. With an original target of $2.5 million, the company closed fully over subscribed.

The grant report is an annual guide to securing international grant funding for Australasian life sciences research. The 2015 version contains a review of grant sources from the EU, US and Japan.

Read about Footfall’s journey in New Zealand from finding capital investment, securing our licensing deal and building on our IP portfolio. CEO Roland Toder also discusses the importance of raising capital and their current investment round which is now open.

Living Green has proven itself as a commercial scale manufacturer and marketer of green products sold through both industrial and consumer channels. Continued growth across the company is inevitable to meet the demand generated from these latest signings. To fund the resource required Living Green will seek up to $2million of new equity investment with an offer opening in coming weeks.

The staggered deal provides Engender with US$250,000 of resources upfront to consolidate the microfluidic chip and conduct trials, plus a further potential US$1.5million of investment and resources to develop its unique technology to prototypes.

After raising initial equity capital and providing its interim management team, Pacific Channel was delighted to assist New Zealand smart fabric technology start-up, Footfalls & Heartbeats secure a significant licensing deal with one of the world’s largest medical compression therapy companies, Medi GmbH&Co.KG

The medicine development company has just closed a successful million dollar plus fundraising round and has just announced an extension to the crowdfunding component to May 18 so that sizeable investors have time to place the funding required. Breathe Easy is using crowdfunding platform Snowball Effect to raise the final $350,000 needed to take its new cystic fibrosis therapy, Citramel, into Phase 1/IIa clinical trial.

As the end of the year fast approaches, Pacific Channel would like to thank you for your engagement during the year and extend season’s greetings.

The University of Auckland Business School is offering a Masters course in commercialisation and entrepreneurship through a programme tailor made for business professionals.

What it taught me is that success comes from having a committed group of people with a shared and meaningful mission and a lot of support behind them

Pacific Channel is delighted to announce that Blair Pritchard is joining the company in the role of partner, working alongside Brent Ogilvie.

This is a significant achievement for Pacific Channel and follows its initiative in 2012 to work with ICE HOUSE to bring together a group of approximately 30 ICE Angel Chinese investors to create a forum in which high net worth Chinese can assess investment opportunities in early stage New Zealand companies.

D’Arcy Polychrome won a Grand Awards at the 2013 StartmeupHK awards in Hong Kong. The Auckland-based company is backed by Pacific Channel, the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund and private investors. It works closely with Callaghan Innovation to refine and produce its revolutionary dry, easily dispersible, polychromatic colour granules used for colouring building materials such as paints, concrete and plaster.

Footfalls & Heartbeats Limited (FHL) has closed oversubscribed – at $1.5 million – with investors from New Zealand, Australia and the United States for what has become one of the most successful capital raising rounds of 2013 for early stage New Zealand technology companies.

Based in Auckland, FHL is commercialising world-leading textile sensor technology which has a multitude of market applications. Footfalls & Heartbeats Limited (FHL) seeks a senior staff member who can drive product development for this exciting, early stage, high-growth company.

FHL is developing intelligent textiles to allow remote physiological monitoring,capturing heart rate,respiration & joint movement data in real-time. Pacific Channel becomes a cornerstone shareholder in Footfalls and Heartbeats Limited.

A director of Landcare Research’s DNA diagnostic facility, EcoGene®, has won the inaugural Women in Science Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by Pacific Channel, New Zealand’s leading venture development and investment firm and the Association for Women in the Sciences (AWIS).

Pacific Channel Limited, New Zealand’s leading venture development and investment firm focused on early-stage life science and clean-tech innovation, announced today the closing of $350,000 new equity investment into Regen which it led with AngelHQ, Wellington’s angel investment club in exchange for equity in the company.

Pacific Channel Limited, New Zealand’s leading venture development and investment firm focused on early-stage life science and clean-tech innovation led $1 million of new equity investment for Caldera Health Ltd, enabling the company to advance development of its technology to diagnose prostate cancer.

Pacific Channel managing director Brent Ogilvie has gained more than $1.8 million in capital for two companies he took through the Unlimited Investment Challenge.

Pacific Channel Director, Brent Ogilvie, said “the sale of Somnaceutics’ business assets was very pleasing because it demonstrates that start-up companies based on New Zealand science can be commercially successful and generate returns for investors in a short period”.

Pacific Channel congratulates Ms Bridgit Hawkins and Re:Gen Limited for winning the TUANZ Innovation Rural award with Re:Gen, a dairy-effluent management system.

Taiwanese trials of a New Zealand sleep-enhancing milk product proved there was interest. But joint venture partners New Image Group and Somnaceutics have been stunned by the demand for the milk powder-based drink since it launched six weeks ago.

Somnaceutics and NZX listed New Image Group Limited agree to trial sales of Somnaceutics sleep-enhancing beverage in Taiwan.

Pacific Channel Ltd has supported Living Cell Technologies, a New Zealand global leader in cell therapy, in raising A$4.2 million through the issue of new shares. Pacific Channel managed the New Zealand side of the trans-Tasman capital raising for LCT which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

Somnaceutics, co-founded by Pacific Channel, won the Science Innovation Award at the NZ Natural Products Industry Summit for its natural sleep enhancing milk product.

Pacific Channel led investment of $350k in April 2011 to fund the development of SciTOX Ltd’s waste toxicity measurement device.

Pacific Channel has provided business planning and product development support to a British company, Indigix, which raised seed capital of £930,000 (NZ$1.926 million).The seed investment was led by London-based Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO), a leading technology commercialisation and investment company, alongside Kurma BioFund, a Paris-based life sciences fund.

Pacific Channel Limited’s offer of 100 free hours of investment advice to New Zealand life-science and engineering-technology entities with the potential to create jobs has now closed. Pacific Channel’s offer’s first recipient is an engineering technology company Nova Eco Tech Limited. Nova Eco Tech, which develops retrofit systems to enable motor vehicles to significantly reduce fuel consumption, will receive 50 free hours of investment advice from Pacific Channel.